S & W Mod. 41's, ever shoot one?

Just wondering how many of THR shooters out there own or have shot a Smith Mod. 41 and what you think of them. Me? I just about wet my pants when I look at mine, and after shooting it, well that's a little to personal. LOL

Yeah, damned trigger was set about 2 ounces and I had a hard time getting used to it, but is a fine target gun. Friend of mine has one and one of those .38 wadcutter autos, M58? Whatever, anyway, he's heavy into bullseye shooting. I'll stick with my Ruger Mk2, but I ain't knocking the M41 if you want a REAL target gun. The things are accurate and have fantastic triggers, or at least his does. Actually, I'd set it up a notch in pull weight, but then, I don't shoot bullseye.

ragtopdog

September 15, 2008, 09:15 PM

Have had mine since '75 my dad gave it to me when I was 13, he had one too. We had three Ruger Mk's, two 1's and a 2 with a bull before that. Then we got to shoot a buddy's 41. We thought at the time the Mk's were the stuff. Good shooters, reliable and such, though I hated the mags! Needless to say they went away pretty quick. Did have to wait about 8 months for the Smiths, but when they came the Mk's went right down to the gun store! Never have missed them. My thumb still hurts from loading those Mk's mags!

ragtopdog

September 15, 2008, 09:30 PM

My dad did the triggers, very light but sweet. They were good out of the box, but had a little creep and back play. This was still after about 1k rounds through them each.

Ghost Walker

September 15, 2008, 09:47 PM

A truly great classic 22 caliber pistol. I've owned and used one for the past 36 years. What more needs to be said! ;)

VARifleman

September 15, 2008, 10:19 PM

It was only reliable after putting a drop of oil on the top round of every magazine. Accurate, but I really don't like having to do fixes like that.

tipoc

September 16, 2008, 08:13 AM

Beautiful and accurate guns. I've owned one for over 10 years.

tipoc

Onmilo

September 16, 2008, 08:49 AM

I have owned and shot mine for well over ten years now.
I am happy to report that I have not encountered the issues others have with this particular model of pistol.
This gun has actually won me some very good money.
Enough to accessorize it and have some cash left over for other things.
http://www.fototime.com/CD76413BDD01203/standard.jpg

hags

September 16, 2008, 08:54 AM

Nice, what grips do you have on your 41? Are those Herrett's?

Deanimator

September 16, 2008, 09:42 AM

I've never owned a Model 41 but it was the first handgun I ever shot and the one I learned to shoot with in college. They're good guns, although sometimes a bit finicky with ammunition.

Deanimator

September 16, 2008, 09:43 AM

It was only reliable after putting a drop of oil on the top round of every magazine. Accurate, but I really don't like having to do fixes like that.
That's common practice for bullseye shooters using various handguns. Nobody worries about it. After all, the 25 and 50 yard targets don't shoot back.

saltydog452

September 16, 2008, 09:49 AM

The Model 41 is good stuff.

If you are lucky, and thinking more along the lines of a utility pistol, S&W made a few of the short barrels with the Baughman (sp?) ramped front sight (think Model 19 revolver).

salty

VARifleman

September 16, 2008, 01:27 PM

That's common practice for bullseye shooters using various handguns. Nobody worries about it. After all, the 25 and 50 yard targets don't shoot back.
That they don't, but if it hadn't been a local match, I'd have lost serious points because I had more than one alibi due to the thing's problems. It needs to work every time you pull the trigger or else it will screw up your match. Alibis get your mind out of the game, and if you have more than one, you lose big.

The Wiry Irishman

September 16, 2008, 03:45 PM

Here at the Purdue Rifle/Pistol club, we have six of them, all with somewhere in the vicinity of a quarter million rounds through each of them. They're still scary accurate and the triggers are still great, a crisp 2.5 pounds, but over the last three years or so they've started to get very picky about ammo. The only thing that will run 100% in all of them is Federal blue box. Some will eat most anything, the most common malfunction is an empty getting stuck in the chamber, requiring a quick field strip and a pocket knife to get loose. Scrubbing the chamber with a brass brush every ~50 rounds will generally prevent any issues if you're using a different kind of ammo.

They're fantastic guns, though. They're what I learned bullseye on, but they just don't hold a candle to our new Pardini SPs.

tipoc

September 16, 2008, 04:00 PM

Onmilo,

Interesting holster for that 41. Where did you get that?

tipoc

cpirtle

September 16, 2008, 05:10 PM

Interesting holster for that 41. Where did you get that?

Yeah, what he said..

I love my 41, it's like a laser beam and has proven accurate no matter what I feed it.

http://www.pirtleranch.com/images/Guns/S&W_41/100_2418.JPG

philuk44

September 16, 2008, 05:30 PM

Model 41 was the first firearm I owned - sweet pistol. :)

Phil

.38 Special

September 16, 2008, 06:34 PM

Does anyone know the "true" story on ammo, specifically standard velocity vs. high velocity? I've heard that the gun is sprung for standard velocity stuff and that HV ammo is a bit abusive. I know that mine cycles well with SV but occasionally fails to pick up a round from the magazine with HV; I've wondered if slide velocity is too high with HV.

krs

September 16, 2008, 06:54 PM

love the pistol. This is my second one - I had one when I was a bullseye competitor from 1975 thru 1983 but generally kept it as backup or slowfire only gun at ranges where 50 yards was shot. It had the long barrel, and I fired the HS for timed and rapid fire or for the whole match as my High Standards were generally more reliable with the ammo of the day unless I sprung for Eley. The Smith seemed to only want to use match ammo.

this pistol is different though and has never coughed once since new.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p263/twagger/guns/Smith41a.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p263/twagger/guns/HSCitation.jpg

Onmilo

September 16, 2008, 07:47 PM

The grips are German Nill-Griffe.
The holster is from London Armory and is actually made for supressed Ruger Mkll pistol, it fits the 7.5" barrel 41 perfectly.

Rembrandt

September 16, 2008, 08:26 PM

I've had these for nearly 25 years....best .22 handguns I have ever shot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/Rembrandt51/Model41-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/Rembrandt51/5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/Rembrandt51/Model41comp.jpg

Sunray

September 16, 2008, 08:54 PM

"...the "true" story on ammo, specifically standard velocity vs. high velocity?..." High velocity ammo won't hurt it. Lots of squirrel hunters use S&W 41's with no fuss.
They are very particular about the ammo they'll both shoot well and cycle the action using though. No two are alike either. The cost of said ammo means nothing. Mine will only shoot Remington Target and IVI(Cdn) Standard Velocity. Haven't bothered with finding the best HV ammo for it. No handgun hunting, up here.

Majic

September 17, 2008, 01:25 AM

I have one and it's a good pistol, but personally I prefer my Woodsmans and High Standards over it. Others may think differently.

MassMan

September 17, 2008, 08:19 PM

I have had one for 20+ years and have never had an issue with ammo. A few years ago I put an ultra dot on it as my old eyes are not what they used to be. I love the gun and have yet to find a gun in it's price range ( and they have appreciated) that shoots better.

ADKWOODSMAN

September 17, 2008, 08:38 PM

Mine was purchased in 1972 when I was deep in Bullseye shooting. It also like the remington standard vel. target ammo. I tried pistol match and others but standard vel. worked the best. Still to this day the safety is soooo hard to put on because it was never used in bullseye.

My first was a 7 1/4 in barrel (I believe that's correct) and the '72 model 41 is 5 1/2 bull.

I also shot and used many High Standard models and they were all excellent except the Jam-a-matic Victor. Never saw one that worked.

Rokman

September 18, 2008, 12:00 AM

My dad bought one second hand back in the mid 80's and I have had possesion of it for about nine years now. It is amazingly accurate and a pleasure to shoot. Thanks dad!:D

ragtopdog

September 18, 2008, 01:28 AM

I've shot all kinds of .22's, but that S & W 41 will never leave my hands till I die. Like others have said, lazer like accurate, 100k's of rounds and no prob's, I'm surprised they don't ask 2k or more for them. Next to a Colt S.A.A., the 41's the best pointing hand gun made. Guess I'am lucky, I own "some" of both. heh heh. Love that colt S.A.A. .45 too..........Have blackhawks too, Colts will not leave ever, blackhawks? how much $$$$ you got?